Happy New Year;

“No wonder we have problems. We start each year by dropping the ball.” ~ Anonymous

While the coffee is perking I might as well remind you parents that, most likely, school will start up on Monday. Which reminds me; “did you hear about the kidnapping at school?……. don’t worry he woke up.” OK, let’s hear that collective groaning sound.

Family Christmas celebration – finally did take place – on New Year’s Day. Vili recovered completely from the flu. Everyone else stayed healthy. So, it was a 100% blast.

Over the years we’ve discovered the futility of the “formal” meal. This is especially so when groups of young’ns troop around the place. Therefore, we’ve gotten into “grazing.”

And so it was (Christmas lingo) that the kids stuffed themselves on salsa, Hummus, and many veggies. Meanwhile the adults enjoyed Marcia’s great versions (turkey and vegan) of a Bam Bam Salad and Gypsy soup; plus salsa, hummus, and many veggies.

Adrianne organized several “win-it-in-a-minute” games. These went so well that several of the belly-laughing ladies began to have minor concerns about their bladders.

And, finally, everyone knows enough so that the gift exchange avoided turning into a WWE SmackDown style tour de force. In fact, we had nothing but smiles and laughter – how good can it get.

The week that was – Aside from more and more work on the condo we took it easy this week.  Watched a game here and there, stayed up too late one night, and went to bed too early on another. That was about the time that Marcia noticed water running out from under the water heater. Absolutely unplanned our happy plumber will be over on Monday to install a new one. Marcia claims it will be a plus on our house sale. Yeah right, although this one will have a, now city code mandated, expansion tank.

In case you hadn’t noticed, we sprang into action mid-post to head out and watch Vai and her cheerleading team perform for the very first time at a real game (basketball). They did great! Love seeing kids learn, do, and enjoy the process.

Fini – Make this beginning week of the New Year a great one. Successful training to Vince, this as he embarks on competing in his second Ironman race in May. Happy Birthday (yesterday) to Marcia – she’s now cleared that age 39 hurdle with a little room to spare.

Instead of heading out for her birthday dinner we invited Suzy Wong over. Actually I ran over and picked up a shopping bag filled with deliciousness. Suzy Wong’s is near the top of our favorite Asian restaurants – they do it so right! A little white wine with the dry-brushed shrimp and Sole with vegetables was exactly what made the evening right.

Cheers.

Dirk